The Hobbit: First stills released

Force of hobbit ... Peter Jackson directs Martin Freeman in one of the released film stills. Photograph: Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images

The first official stills of the upcoming Hobbit movie have been released via Entertainment Weekly magazine, and they're certainly a random assortment. In the first of three, Martin Freeman as Bilbo – sporting a tremendous pair of prosthetic ears – reads a letter in his Hobbiton home. In the second, Ian McKellen strikes a remarkably relaxed pose as Gandalf (I wonder what's in that pipe?). The third, above, features Peter Jackson coaching Freeman in a kitchen that wouldn't look out of place in a Jilly Cooper novel.